Sunday, June 9, 2019

The Madawaska River Loop: Whitefish, to Pen, to Harry and Louisa…And Back Again! Part One ©



Pen Lake in the Morning, 2014.  Picture by the author.


This August, I am guiding eight members of Boy Scout Troop 628 on a Birchbark Expedition's trek (for information on Birchbark Expeditions, go HERE) on the Madawaska River loop.


Map of the Madawaska River watershed, arrows indicate the direction of water flow.  From “19th Century Aboriginal Farmers of the Madawaska River”, by Bill Allen, Figure 1


The Madawaska River is the largest tributary of the Ottawa River, rising in Ontario.  The Madawaska River is made up of three tributaries that each drain a series of lakes within Algonquin Park, before flowing into Rock Lake and then into Galeairy Lake.  The South Madawaska flows from Madawaska Lake through the South Madawaska River to Clydegale Lake to Pen Lake and into Rock Lake, while the North Madawaska River drains southward to Rock Lake from Source Lake, Cache Lake, Lake of Two Rivers and Whitefish Lake.  The main branch of the Madawaska River rises near Manitou Mountain, by the boundary of the Georgian Bay watershed and flows eastward into Head Creek, Lake Louisa, and Louisa Creek before emptying into Rock Lake.


Loons, things that you can see in the Madawaska River watershed, picture by the author.

Beaver lodge, things that you can see in the Madawaska River watershed, picture by the author.

  
We will be putting in at Whitefish Lake and canoeing to Pen on day one.   On day two, they will be traveling from Pen Lake to Harry Lake; day three, canoeing from Harry Lake to Lake Louisa; day four, travelling from Lake Louisa to Head Lake; and finally on day five, canoeing from Head Lake down the North Madawaska River into the Lake of Two Rivers, then back again to Whitefish Lake.  The total distance traveled will 56.6 miles of canoeing and portaging.  This is a great route, and I thought I would put together travel-log: if you take this route, this is what you might see.


Red lines indicate the travel route, from Jeff’s Map, Wall Map Version 5.0, annotated by the author.  


Along the cliffs on the west side of Rock Lake, just within Picto-Bay, there are two Native American pictographs (painted symbols) in faded red paint on the cliff wall, only reachable by canoe.  They were most likely painted hundreds of years ago, by the Algonkian speaking Nipissings, and today you can still see a human figure with horns, what archeologists call an “anthropomorph”, and nearby three vertical slashes.  The three vertical slashes might once have been joined by a horizontal curved line, to represent three men in a canoe, a common Native American pictograph.
  
Where to find the pictographs in Picto-bay on Rock Lake, picture by the author

Where to find the pictographs in Picto-bay on Rock Lake, noted, picture by the author

Pictograph of a human figure with horns, picture by the author


Pictograph of three slashes, picture by the author

On top of the cliff, above the lake, before Picto-bay, are what the archeologists call the “dream pits”.  They are on the west side of Rock Lake, on the opposite side of the lake from Booth’s Rock Trail.  Some archeologists believe that these pits are where Native American youths would go to fast and pray for spiritual guidance.  However, Bill Allen, who wrote “Nineteenth Century Aboriginal Farmers of the Madawaska River”, suggested that they might actually be root cellars or equipment caches, as the dimensions of the “dream pits” are similar to those from known 19th century farm sites, one on Rock Lake and one on Galeairy Lake.

You have to hike Booth’s Rock Trail, and see the remains of J.R. Booth’s palatial estate, which can be seen from the trail.  This three-mile trail loop is a fantastic side trip; it offers fantastic views, from the top of the cliff, of the lake below -- don’t miss it.
  
View from the top of Booth's Trail, picture by the author

View from the top of Booth's Trail, picture by the author


  
Red lines indicate the travel route, from Jeff’s Map, Wall Map Version 5.0, annotated by the author.  



The spring along the Rock Lake to Pen Lake portage, picture by the Author

On the Rock Lake to Pen Lake portage, there is a spring on the west side portage, near the Rock Lake side of the portage.  The water flows from a black pipe near the trail and it is potable, refreshing and very cold.

The water falls between Pen Lake and Rock Lake.  Picture by the author.
  
From “Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake” by William C. Noble, p. 48

From “Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake” by William C. Noble, p. 60

From “Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake” by William C. Noble, p. 61

  
There are petroglyphs, Native American rock carvings, on both the west side and the east side of the river leading from Pen Lake to Rock Lake.  I wasn’t able to find the petroglyphs shown in “Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake”, but we did find what we thought might be a petroglyph pecked into the side of a boulder on the west side of the portage facing the river.  It is 167 paces (left foot to left foot) from the Rock Lake side of the portage and 35 paces away from the portage trail.  The petroglyphs found on this portage may represent a “walking snake” and a stylized form of a “thunderbird (rock 1 and rock 3).

Maybe a petroglyph, picture by the author

Maybe a petroglyph, a close-up, picture by the author


There is an excellent campsite on Pen Lake, just past the end of the portage where the lake narrows.  On the western island, which is connected to the shore with a sandbar, are two campsites: they are excellent, the sites are flat, relatively bug free, have a nice beach and fresh water mussels.  In 2015, these two sites shared a luxury “thunder-box” (latrine) with walls, a roof and a door – it is practically the Hilton!  Also, when I was there in 2015, I saw the tracks of a yearling moose and a red fox on the sandbar; they were only, at most, only a couple hours old: we just missed them!
  
Our 2015 campsite on the island in Pen Lake, picture by author.

  
The moose tracks were approximately 3-7/8” long, indicating a yearling moose made them, and the red fox tracks measure 1-7/8” long, picture by the author.


  
Red lines indicate the travel route, from Jeff’s Map, Wall Map Version 5.0, annotated by the author.  


On the north shore of Lake Louisa, on a point bounded by Martin Creek and the outlet from Miller’s Lake, opposite the inlet that leads to Pondweed Lake, is a campsite where I found an old “blazed” pine tree stump.  You could tell in 2015, that the tree had survived being “blazed”, since it has begun to regrow the bark around the blaze.  Also, you could see that it had survived a forest fire with only a little charring around the roots.  The “blaze” was most likely a navigational aid when this area was logged, since near the base of the stump we found an old piece of a cast iron stove (in the picture this piece of iron is on top of the stump).

The “blazed” stump found near a campsite on the north shore of Lake Louisa, picture by the author.

A drawing made in 2015 of the “blazed” stump found near a campsite on the north shore of Lake Louisa, drawing by the author.
  
The portage from Rod& Gun Lake to Lawrence Lake is called the “Stairway to Heaven”.  In 2015, when I was there last, one of the scouts, who rarely said more than ten words in a day, used up five of his daily words, when he said “I don’t like this one…”.

Off to the side of the Pardee to Harness Lake portage are natural water slides.  They are a blast!  If you can arrange to eat lunch while on this portage, you can enjoy this natural playground.


Red lines indicate the travel route, from Jeff’s Map, Wall Map Version 5.0, annotated by the author.  
  
In 2014, when we got to Lake of Two Rivers, there was a strong northwesterly wind, so we decided to try a hand at sailing.  Since we had only two canoes, the middle paddlers held the canoes together, the front paddlers held onto the canoe paddle mast and to the bottom “halyards”, actually the corner tie-downs of the tarp.  The tarp center was tied to the paddle mast and the two top corner tie-downs became the top “halyards” which were tied to the rear thwart.  We flew down this lake, it was a lot of fun, however you have to be very careful to not capsize as the two canoes wanted to fold up like a clamshell, around the inside gunwales.


Drawing by the author

Drawing by the author



I hope that you take the Madawaska River loop someday and I hope that you enjoyed my travel-log of the sights that you might see if you do.

Sources:

Allen, Bill; “Nineteenth Century Aboriginal Farmers of the Madawaska River”, Partners to the Past: Proceedings of the 2005 Ontario Archaeological Society Symposium, edited by James S. Molnar [The Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, 2007], http://www.ottawaoas.ca/Symposium/Allen.pdf, Accessed July 16, 2015


Jeff’s Map, Wall Map Version 5.0, http://www.algonquinmap.com/, Accessed June 6, 2014

Murie, Olaus J., Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide: Animal Tracks, [The Easton Press, Norwalk, Connecticut, 1974]

Noble, William C.; “Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario”, [April 12, 1968] https://www.ontarioarchaeology.org/Resources/Publications/oa11-5-noble.pdf, Accessed July 16, 2015


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